Coral Sands

Joining friends from the United Kingdom and US for an 8 day cruise of the Coral Islands. Until I have time (yea right!) to write my own blog...below is the marketing material from Thompson, the UK tour company who both organizes the tour and owns the ship ...

... some shells and coral.  They were for sale; he was trying to earn enough money to go home.  Kim bought the shells and coral, but probably paid too much.  She asked how much and I responded with 20.  I meant 20 Barbados Dollars and Kim ...

... easy to live on the West Coast and only go to the cinema once a year while on holiday! So anyway, Coral Bay is stunning. The beach is white sands with turquoise waters which is about knee height for about 400 metres out to sea, then drops off suddenly and ...

... 5pm which would you like.  Normally fish and chicken are on the menu somewhere. The beach out front is beautiful with coral filled sands.  The tide comes in in the morning and goes out in the afternoon.  You can walk out for miles ...

... crystal clear water and immediately saw parrot fist, pipe fish, bright purple star fish, sea slugs and dozens of others. The coral was patchy largely because tourists and locals alike would walk out to the break water at low tide to catch fish or to ...

... turned out to be quite gentle and not too strenuous on the horses. It was also rather lovely – as we rode along the sands some of the children from the neighbouring village came out to walk alongside us and I got to see the sky melt through at ...

... and I began thinking of all the effort it must have taken for them to hoist me up those mountains and along the sands. Had I unwittingly caused discomfort to them and contributed to something I don't wholly agree with? I turned the thought over and over ...

... did a lot of standing.  I went out as far as I could without getting too far from Kim.  There were not many colorful coral, but there were many fish and coral formations to look at.  I wish we could have stayed a little longer. Kim had seen ...

... beach however we didn't see her the day we went but I have to say this pristine beach is one that I will never forget. The sands, the water the most beautiful sunset ever was just picture perfect.  To get back to the sheep station the only way was to ...

... down about 100 feet or so.  We had a depth gage so we could see or progress.  We went past several coral reefs and a shipwreck.  I was surprised that the camera could take pictures through the windows.  I had to use manual focus to ...

While I was making breakfast, the Senegalese man who sold us some coral and shells walked by our window. He had a coconut and wanted me to taste the milk.  I suspect he was looking for more money.  Kim chased him off. We made the long drive to ...

... bar while we went to look for somewhere to stay. After looking at quite a few different places, we found 2 lovely beach bungalows called Coral Beach which were run by a very laid back, reggae loving family. We had air con, lovely big beds and best of all ...

... struggled to get down far enough. I didnt much enjoy the experience either finding it ridiculously serious and claustrophobic, much preferring swimming around the coral reef with a snorkel. But Im glad we did it. We went back to the van for fish and ...

... yet to come to this simple community - a large part of its charm. The beach here is once again magnificent - white sands, turquoise waters. However, half a km away from the main swimming area is a natural shark breeding ground! We walked there and ...

... the Whitsundays, Fraser Island and barrier reef was spectacluar. The various shades of blue, green and turqouise waters against the white sands where crystal clear from above. No clouds in our way and often the sky in Australia can be so clear of clouds ...

... to see in an aunties fishtank. Unlike Sinai, we didn't find Nemo but we did see some very colourful fishes amongst the coral reefs. White sand and a crystal clear Indian ocean aside, stopping in Vilankulos has allowed us the opportunity of a rare rest so ...

... four kilometers from end to end, it also stretches about 50 meters or more into the emerald water, with nary a trace of coral or stone underneath it. Right after lunch, my cousin and I scoured the beach, snapping ourselves as we meandered throughout its ...

... if there any sharks in the waters, then went down to Shark Bay and Shell Beach which was really nice blue waters and white sands lovely!! That night we stayed at a cattle station which one of the girls reminded her of Wolf Creek, luckily I havent seen ...

... sparsely populated areas some 500 metres further north of the boat landing where the beach then becomes littered with small bits of coral.  Rounding the north part of the island, dead tree trunks are strewn across another section of beach and on the ...